Attention and the habituation of human brain potentials

The lability of the late slow biphasic deflection (i.e. N1-P2) of the vertex EP is examined in relation to selective attention and repetitive stimulation in both the visual and auditory modalities. Amplitude effects are of primary Interest and a capacity theory of attention is applied, with some neurophysiological Justification, throughout the work in order to account for such effects. A range of data analytic techniques relevant to EP research are also evaluated and. In particular, a correlation method for determining the amplitude and latency of individual EPs is described and assessed. Unlike the auditory modality, the amplitude of the N1 component of the visual EP was found to remain invariant with respect to selective attention, although the subsequent P2 component was enhanced to stimuli on the attended channel. The N1 correlate of auditory selective attention was shown to be a reflection of the greater 'mental work' associated with attended stimuli. Various aspects of the fast habituation of the visual EP were explored, including its interaction with slow habituation (using a single trial analysis) and the effect of presentation rate. The role of pupillary mechanisms was also evaluated. The generic term 'fast response decrement' (FRD), which subsumes both the fast habituation and the temporal recovery of the late componentry of the EP, was introduced. Using paradigms based on pairs of stimuli, the mechanisms of both the visual and auditory PRD were investigated. The visual. PRD was not affected by dichoptic presentation and exhibited extensive stimulus generalisation. A refractoriness mechanism for the FRD was finally rejected in favour of a psychological one which represented a marriage of Sokolov's concept of a neuronal model with a capacity theory of attention. Using a novel technique. In which an oscilloscope 'clock' enabled experimental control over temporal uncertainty, it was demonstrated that the Inadequacy of the neuronal model in its temporal aspects was the key variable under pinning the FRD, although in the auditory modality a second variable, designated 'firstness', also appeared to be important

Epigenetics Prematurely Born(e): Social Work and the Malleable Gene

Biological sciences are currently in the cultural ascent, promising to provide a theory of everything in the natural and social worlds. Beginning with the decade of the brain in the USA in the 1990s, neuroscience was first onto the stage, but developments in genomics, known as epigenetics have profound implications for society and culture, and the responses of the State to intimate family life and personal choices. Epigenetics provides an explanation of the mechanisms underpinning the interaction of the environment and the DNA blueprint, and thus invites an interest in the impact of adverse conditions, such as deprivation, or normatively deficient parenting. The implications of this biology of social disadvantage for social work are far reaching. Epigenetics is part of an increasingly political biology with the potential to affect the moral direction of social work. This paper reviews the state of the field and its immediate implications for the profession

Seeking the Goal in the Process, the Process for the Goal: Organizational Learning in a Public Sector Change Project

This paper describes how a combination of process modelling and goal modelling techniques has been used to facilitate organizational learning. The case study comes from the public sector in the UK. The modelling techniques have helped users to rationalise about the existing processes and then to design how they would like the process to work. The paper describes how the users have been able to confront the complex issues involved. The experience suggests that the combination of the modelling techniques is important to the learning experience of the users involved

Neutron Knockout Reactions

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY 78-22774 A02 & A03 and by Indiana Universit

Organizational Dynamics of Technology-Based Innovation: Diversifying the Research Agenda

Abstrac

The golden circle: A way of arguing and acting about technology in the London ambulance service

This paper analyses the way in which the London Ambulance Service recovered from the events of October 1992, when it implemented a computer-aided despatch system (LASCAD) that remained in service for less than two weeks. It examines the enactment of a programme of long-term organizational change, focusing on the implementation of an alternative computer system in 1996. The analysis in this paper is informed by actor-network theory, both by an early statement of this approach developed by Callon in the sociology of translation, and also by concepts and ideas from Latour’s more recent restatement of his own position. The paper examines how alternative interests emerged and were stabilized over time, in a way of arguing and acting among key players in the change programme, christened the Golden Circle. The story traces four years in the history of the London Ambulance Service, from the aftermath of October 1992 through the birth of the Golden Circle to the achievement of National Health Service (NHS) trust status. LASCAD was the beginning of the story, this is the middle, an end lies in the future, when the remaining elements of the change programme are enacted beyond the Golden Circle

Research on information systems failures and successes: status update and future directions

Information systems success and failure are among the most prominent streams in IS research. Explanations of why some IS fulfill their expectations, whereas others fail, are complex and multi-factorial. Despite the efforts to understand the underlying factors, the IS failure rate remains stubbornly high. A Panel session was held at the IFIP Working Group 8.6 conference in Bangalore in 2013 which forms the subject of this Special Issue. Its aim was to reflect on the need for new perspectives and research directions, to provide insights and further guidance for managers on factors enabling IS success and avoiding IS failure. Several key issues emerged, such as the need to study problems from multiple perspectives, to move beyond narrow considerations of the IT artifact, and to venture into underexplored organizational contexts, such as the public sector. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Organizational Dynamics of Technology-Based Innovation: Diversifying the Research Agenda

Abstract By analyzing survey data from 1,211 firms across 14 industries in Shanghai, this study examines factors that influence information technology usage in Chinese firms applying a technology-organization-environment framework and institutional theory

Delayed diagnosis of intermittent mesenteroaxial volvulus of the stomach by computed tomography: a case report

10.1186/1752-1947-2-343Journal of Medical Case Reports234